Federal deputy Erika Hilton (PSOL-SP), who signs the Proposed Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that ends the 6×1 working day, says that it is only based on scales adopted in other countries, but that she does not even have a study of the impact it would cause on the Brazilian economy.
Discussion took over social media over the weekend about her proposal, to reduce the working week from six days of work with one day off to 4×3, from four days worked to three days off.
“We look at it from the point of view of the world of work and the flexibilities that other countries and studies have highlighted in relation to productivity and the economy. Obviously we understand all the impacts that can be generated […] What we cannot ignore is that the condition of workers today is extremely poor,” said the deputy in an interview with GloboNews this Monday (11).
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According to her, the proposal to reduce working hours is a provocation that she made to Congress and that, to determine the impacts, she is asking for a public hearing and “obviously” that it will require studies and analyses.
For the parliamentarian, workers are not observed or attended to by employers, and that this more flexible model adopted in other countries “is possible to be implemented in Brazil, without absurdly confronting the economy, increasing prices in such a way dramatic.”
Erika Hilton states that the working day as it stands generates exploitation that leads to wealth for someone – who is not the worker – and that this is the focus of the provocation launched. This supposed exploitation, in her view, leads to tiredness, exhaustion and illness among people “unable to consume in an economy that increasingly makes their existence precarious”.
“Even the provocations that have been raised in the last few hours are an attempt to crush a legitimate workers’ movement, because ‘it won’t work’, ‘it’s not applicable’, ‘it won’t work’. It seems to me like a movement of people who cannot accept that a class so scrapped, so vulnerable, has managed to organize itself and make a provocation, because they cannot tolerate workers having a voice, imposing themselves and questioning the legislator”, he added.
The proposal was initially launched by her on May 1st, but gained prominence this weekend due to a movement on social media. The PEC intends to amend article 7 of the Constitution, as follows:
“XIII – duration of normal work not exceeding eight hours per day and thirty-six hours per week, with a working day of four days per week, with the possibility of compensating working hours and reducing working hours, through an agreement or collective labor agreement”.
Further on, in its justifications, the text states that the reduction in working hours would be done in order to “protect the same salary and benefits for workers today”. The proposal states that the extra hours off would increase consumption, which would compensate for the reduced working hours, but does not present data, studies or projections that confirm this.
When mentioning successful experiences of 4×3 journeys in other countries, the proposal also does not consider the difference in economic and labor realities in Brazil and the rest of the world.
In addition to impacting companies’ productivity, reducing working hours while maintaining remuneration, as stated in the PEC, can even have adverse effects on companies’ productivity and even put pressure on inflation.
In her networks, the deputy states that the 6×1 scale “takes away the worker’s right to spend time with their family, to take care of themselves, to have fun, to look for another job or even to qualify for a better job”. “The 6×1 scale is a prison, and is incompatible with the dignity of the worker,” he wrote.
